Markets nervous following Malaysian Airlines tragedy

By Smart CurrencyJuly 18th, 2014

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The major winner this week looks to have been the Japanese yen. Despite weakening at the start of the week in advance of the Bank Of Japan’s rate setting meeting, the Japanese yen found itself in a strong position going into Friday. After voting to maintain rates at their current level, the Governor of the Bank of Japan’s stated that monetary policy would continue on its path in order to target a 2% rate of inflation which helped strengthen the yen across the board. Moreover, the Japanese yen continued to perform yesterday as risk aversion in the market due to increased Geopolitical tensions created an increased demand for the safe-haven currency.

The Canadian dollar had a less positive week, with investors reacting poorly to the decision to maintain interest rates at the same level. An increase in unemployment, allied with a reduction in the Bank of Canada’s growth forecast for country, saw the Canadian dollar weaken off as investors pushed back bets on when they expect the central bank to raise interest rate.

Today we see the release of inflation data and wholesales figures from Canada.

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